Method, Apparatus And Computer Program Product For Priority Based Cell Reselection In A Multi-RAT Environment

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus and computer program product are therefore provided that may enable a network sending broadcast and/or dedicated priorities to a mobile terminal to also include priorities with respect to a RAT that does not support the priority algorithm. As such, for example, priority parameters for a legacy network that does not support the priority algorithm may be supplied to a mobile terminal to enable the mobile terminal to make cell reselection decisions without running two different cell reselection algorithms in parallel (e.g., a ranking based algorithm and a priority based algorithm). The provided method includes the steps of receiving an indication of a plurality candidate cells with respect to said cell reselection of a mobile terminal; assigning, toward each of said plurality of candidate cells, a priority, wherein at least one candidate cell of the plurality of candidate cells does not support priority based cell reselection; and providing said priorities to said mobile terminal.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to cellreselection technology in a multiple radio access technology (RAT)environment and, more particularly, relate to an apparatus, method and acomputer program product for enabling priority based cell reselection ina multi-RAT environment.

BACKGROUND

The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansionof wireline and wireless networks. Computer networks, televisionnetworks, and telephony networks are experiencing an unprecedentedtechnological expansion, fueled by consumer demand. Wireless and mobilenetworking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, whileproviding more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer.

Current and future networking technologies continue to facilitate easeof information transfer and convenience to users. Such increased ease ofinformation transfer and convenience to users has recently beenaccompanied by an increased ability to provide mobile communications ata relatively low cost. Accordingly, mobile communication devices arebecoming ubiquitous in the modern world. With the rapid expansion ofmobile communications technology, there has been a related rapidexpansion in those services that are demanded and provided via mobilecommunication devices.

Over the history of mobile communications, there have been manydifferent generations of systems developed to enable the use of suchcommunication devices. The first generations of these systems weresometimes developed independently and, at least initially, were notnecessarily usable in cooperation with other systems. However,cooperation between communication system developers began to be employedso that new technologies could be enabled to have the potential forsynergistic cooperation with other technologies in order to increaseoverall capacity. Thus, a mobile terminal operable in second generation(e.g., 2G) systems such as GSM (global system for mobile communications)or IS-95, which replaced the first generation of systems, may in somecases be useable in cooperation with newer generation systems such asthird generation systems (e.g., 3G) and others that are currently beingdeveloped (e.g., E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio AccessNetwork)).

The ability of a particular mobile terminal to access multiple systemsor communicate via multiple radio access technologies (multi-RAT) issometimes referred to as “multi-radio access” (MRA). An MRA capableterminal may therefore be enabled to transfer between different RATs(e.g., UTRAN, E-UTRAN, GERAN (GSM EDGE radio access network)). Undercertain circumstances, a mobile terminal (or user equipment (UE)) mayperform cell reselection in order to transfer between different RATs. Inthis regard, for example, due to signal loss or signal strengthreduction in a current serving cell, the UE may reselect another cell.Various procedures governing cell reselection have been developed to tryto maintain communication continuity and provide for selection of thebest available cell (regardless of RAT) in a multi-RAT environment.

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has specifiedreselection procedures in various technical specifications (TSs). Forexample, 3GPP TS 25.304 provides cell reselection procedures for UTRAN.These procedures account for the fact that existing equipment in thefield may have different ages and/or capabilities based on the upgradesthat have been incorporated therein. As such, for example, a prioritybased cell reselection algorithm was introduced to use absolutepriorities to make cell reselection choices in connection with 3GPPRelease-8 (Rel-8) networks, while Rel-7 and older previously deployednetworks that are not upgraded to support the priority based cellreselection algorithm may instead use a legacy algorithm for cellreselection that is based on cell ranking instead of cell priority.

When reselecting to a target RAT that does not support the prioritybased algorithm, existing methods have taken the view that reselectiontowards such a RAT should also be based on cell ranking. As such,“symmetric” reselection rules would be applied between both RATs. Inorder to achieve this behavior, if a UE in UTRAN has received nopriority information for any frequency of a target RAT in a selectedpublic land mobile network (PLMN), the UE uses the legacy cellreselection algorithm towards the RAT that does not support prioritybased cell reselection. However, when the serving network interworkswith two or more other networks, this could lead to scenarios where thepriority algorithm and the legacy algorithm are running within the UE inparallel, thereby causing excessive complexity in the UE. Moreover, somealternatives to the running of parallel algorithms may lead tosituations in which reselection of RATs that do not support prioritybased reselection may be completely disabled and thus particular RATsmay effectively be disabled from being selected. Accordingly, changes tothe procedures for inter-RAT cell reselection may be desirable.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

A method, apparatus and computer program product are therefore providedthat may enable a network sending broadcast and/or dedicated prioritiesto a mobile terminal to also include priorities with respect to a RATthat does not support the priority algorithm. As such, for example,priority parameters for a legacy network that does not support thepriority algorithm may be supplied to a mobile terminal to enable themobile terminal to make cell reselection decisions without running twodifferent cell reselection algorithms in parallel (e.g., a ranking basedalgorithm and a priority based algorithm).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communications systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of multiple candidate cells in a multi-RATenvironment according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a scenario in which multiple RATs are interworkingand some of those RATs include a priority assigner according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for enabling prioritybased cell reselection in a multi-RAT environment according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile terminal for enablingpriority based cell reselection in a multi-RAT environment according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart according to an exemplary method of enablingpriority based cell reselection in a multi-RAT environment according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart according to an exemplary method of enablingpriority based cell reselection in a multi-RAT environment from theperspective of a mobile terminal according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed,various embodiments of the invention may be embodied in many differentforms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.As used herein, the terms “data,” “content,” “information” and similarterms may be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of beingtransmitted, received and/or stored in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention. Moreover, the term “exemplary”, as used herein,is not provided to convey any qualitative assessment, but instead merelyto convey an illustration of an example. Thus, use of any such termsshould not be taken to limit the spirit and scope of embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 1, one exemplary embodiment of the invention, illustrates aschematic block diagram of a wireless communications system according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring now to FIG.1, an illustration of one type of system that would benefit fromembodiments of the present invention is provided. The system of FIG. 1includes a plurality of network devices and one or more mobile terminals10. The mobile terminals may be various different examples of mobilecommunication devices such as portable digital assistants (PDAs),pagers, mobile televisions, gaming devices, laptop computers, mobilephones, cameras, video recorders, audio/video players, radios, globalpositioning system (GPS) devices, or any combination of theaforementioned, and other types of voice and text communicationsdevices. However, it should be understood that a mobile terminal asillustrated and hereinafter described is merely illustrative of one typeof device that would benefit from embodiments of the present inventionand, therefore, should not be taken to limit the scope of embodiments ofthe present invention.

In an exemplary embodiment, each mobile terminal 10 may include anantenna 12 (or multiple antennas) for transmitting signals to and forreceiving signals from a network node such as a base site or basestation (BS) 44. The base station 44 may be a part of one or morecellular or mobile networks each of which includes elements required tooperate the network, such as a mobile switching center (MSC) 46. Themobile network may also be referred to as a BaseStation/MSC/Interworking function (BMI). In operation, the MSC 46 may becapable of routing calls to and from the mobile terminal 10 when themobile terminal 10 is making and receiving calls. The MSC 46 may alsoprovide a connection to landline trunks when the mobile terminal 10 isinvolved in a call. In addition, the MSC 46 may be capable ofcontrolling the forwarding of messages to and from the mobile terminal10, and may also control the forwarding of messages for the mobileterminal 10 to and from a messaging center. It should be noted thatalthough the MSC 46 is shown in the system of FIG. 1, the MSC 46 ismerely an exemplary network device and embodiments of the presentinvention are not limited to use in a network employing an MSC.

The MSC 46 may be coupled to a data network, such as a local areanetwork (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), and/or a wide areanetwork (WAN). The MSC 46 may be directly coupled to the data network.In one example embodiment, however, the MSC 46 is coupled to a gatewaydevice (GTW) 48, and the GTW 48 is coupled to a WAN, such as theInternet 50. In turn, devices such as processing elements (e.g.,personal computers, server computers or the like) may be coupled to themobile terminal 10 via the Internet 50. For example, as explained below,the processing elements may include one or more processing elementsassociated with a computing system (two shown in FIG. 1), origin server54 (one shown in FIG. 1) or the like, as described below.

The BS 44 may also be coupled to a serving GPRS (General Packet RadioService) support node (SGSN) 56. The SGSN 56 may be capable ofperforming functions similar to the MSC 46 for packet switched services.The SGSN 56, like the MSC 46, may be coupled to a data network, such asthe Internet 50.

The SGSN 56 may be directly coupled to the data network. In one exampleembodiment, however, the SGSN 56 is coupled to a packet-switched corenetwork, such as a GPRS core network 58. The packet-switched corenetwork of this embodiment is then coupled to another GTW 48, such as agateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 60, and the GGSN 60 is coupled to theInternet 50. In addition to the GGSN 60, the packet-switched corenetwork may also be coupled to a GTW 48. Also, the GGSN 60 may becoupled to a messaging center. In this regard, the GGSN 60 and the SGSN56, like the MSC 46, may be capable of controlling the forwarding ofmessages, such as multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages. The GGSN60 and SGSN 56 may also be capable of controlling the forwarding ofmessages for the mobile terminal 10 to and from the messaging center. Inaddition, by coupling the SGSN 56 to the GPRS core network 58 and theGGSN 60, devices such as a computing system 52 and/or origin server 54may be coupled to the mobile terminal 10 via the Internet 50, SGSN 56and GGSN 60. In this regard, devices such as the computing system 52and/or origin server 54 may communicate with the mobile terminal 10across the SGSN 56, GPRS core network 58 and the GGSN 60. By directly orindirectly connecting mobile terminals 10 and the other devices (e.g.,computing system 52, origin server 54, etc.) to the Internet 50, themobile terminals 10 may communicate with the other devices and with oneanother, such as according to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)and/or the like, to thereby carry out various functions of the mobileterminals 10.

Although not every element of every possible mobile network is shown anddescribed herein, it should be appreciated that the mobile terminal 10may be coupled to one or more of any of a number of different networksthrough the BS 44. In this regard, the network(s) may be capable ofsupporting communication in accordance with any one or more of a numberof first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, third-generation(3G), 3.9G, fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication protocols or thelike. For example, one or more of the network(s) may be capable ofsupporting communication in accordance with 2G wireless communicationprotocols IS-136 (TDMA), GSM, and IS-95 (CDMA). Also, for example, oneor more of the network(s) may be capable of supporting communication inaccordance with 2.5G wireless communication protocols GPRS, EnhancedData GSM Environment (EDGE), or the like. Further, for example, one ormore of the network(s) may be capable of supporting communication inaccordance with 3G wireless communication protocols such as a UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network employing wideband codedivision multiple access (WCDMA) radio access technology or newertechnologies such as E-UTRAN, which is alternately referred to as LTE(long term evolution). Some narrow-band analog mobile phone service(NAMPS), as well as total access communication system (TACS), network(s)may also benefit from embodiments of the present invention, as may dualor higher mode mobile stations.

The mobile terminal 10 can further be coupled to one or more wirelessaccess points (APs) 62. The APs 62 may comprise access points configuredto communicate with the mobile terminal 10 in accordance with techniquessuch as, for example, radio frequency (RF), infrared (IrDA) or any of anumber of different wireless networking techniques, including WLANtechniques such as IEEE 802.11 (e.g., 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g,802.11n, etc.), world interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX)techniques such as IEEE 802.16, and/or wireless Personal Area Network(WPAN) techniques such as IEEE 802.15, BlueTooth (BT), ultra wideband(UWB) and/or the like. The APs 62 may be coupled to the Internet 50.Like with the MSC 46, the APs 62 may be directly coupled to the Internet50. In one embodiment, however, the APs 62 are indirectly coupled to theInternet 50 via a GTW 48. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the BS 44 maybe considered as another AP 62. As will be appreciated, by directly orindirectly connecting the mobile terminals 10 and the computing system52, the origin server 54, and/or any of a number of other devices, tothe Internet 50, the mobile terminals 10 may communicate with oneanother, the computing system, etc., to thereby carry out variousfunctions of the mobile terminals 10, such as to transmit data, contentor the like to, and/or receive content, data or the like from, thecomputing system 52.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, in addition to or in lieu of coupling themobile terminal 10 to computing systems 52 across the Internet 50, themobile terminal 10 and computing system 52 may be coupled to one anotherand communicate in accordance with, for example, RF, BT, IrDA or any ofa number of different wireline or wireless communication techniques,including LAN, WLAN, WiMAX, UWB techniques and/or the like. One or moreof the computing systems 52 may additionally, or alternatively, includea removable memory capable of storing content, which may thereafter betransferred to the mobile terminal 10. Further, the mobile terminal 10may be coupled to one or more electronic devices, such as printers,digital projectors and/or other multimedia capturing, producing and/orstoring devices (e.g., other terminals). Like with the computing systems52, the mobile terminal 10 may be configured to communicate with theportable electronic devices in accordance with techniques such as, forexample, RF, BT, IrDA or any of a number of different wireline orwireless communication techniques, including universal serial bus (USB),LAN, WLAN, WiMAX, UWB techniques and/or the like.

In some embodiments, the mobile terminal 10 may be capable of receivingcommunication from multiple cells (e.g., multiple BSs or APs) at anygiven time. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the system of FIG. 1 couldrepresent a multi-RAT environment. In this regard, for example, the BS44 may be coupled to the SGSN 56 and the MSC 46 via a base stationcontroller (BSC) 45 that may control the BS 44. The BS 44 and the BSC 45may be associated with a first RAT (e.g., a 2G or other RAT). Meanwhile,the SGSN 56 and the MSC 46 may also be coupled to a radio networkcontroller (RNC) 47 of a second RAT (e.g., a 3G or other RAT). The RNC47 may in turn be in communication with one or more nodes (e.g., node-Bsor e-node-Bs) 49, one or more of which may be capable of communicationwith the mobile terminal 10 at any given time. As such, the mobileterminal 10 may be configured to be able to communicate with (e.g.,select a cell associated with) either the first RAT or the second RAT.Furthermore, additional RATs may also be included in the system of FIG.2 so that the mobile terminal 10 may be enabled to communicate with anyof a plurality of different RATs.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of multiple different cells in a multi-RATenvironment according to an exemplary embodiment. In this regard, asshown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 10 may be positioned in a locationwhere the mobile terminal 10 is within range of several base stations,access points and/or nodes. In other words, the mobile terminal 10 maybe within or at least proximate to a plurality of communication cellsdefining a coverage area of corresponding base stations, access pointsand/or nodes. As such, the mobile terminal 10 may be in a multi-RATenvironment where cells associated with different RATs overlap to somedegree. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 10 may be incommunication with a current serving cell 64, but may also be capable ofreceiving communications transmitted from other cells that may be fromthe same and/or other RATs. For example, the cells drawn in solid linesmay include the current serving cell 64 and neighbor cells or firstcandidate cells 65, which may be associated with a first RAT (e.g., 2G,3G, E-UTRAN, 4G or the like). In an exemplary embodiment, the currentserving cell 64 and the first candidate cells 65 may each be associatedwith any particular RAT. Meanwhile, cells drawn in dashed lines mayinclude second candidate cells 66 associated with a second RAT (e.g., adifferent RAT). Although, embodiments of the invention do not requirethree or more RATs, a third RAT (e.g., E-UTRAN) may also have one ormore third candidate cells 67 that are receivable by the mobile terminal10. As such, FIG. 2 merely illustrates one example of what may beconsidered a multi-RAT environment. According to an exemplaryembodiment, all cells received by the mobile terminal 10, other than thecurrent serving cell 64, may be considered candidates for reselection bythe mobile terminal 10 in case the mobile terminal 10 moves orexperiences conditions with respect to the current serving cell 64 thatmay require or otherwise make a reselection of another serving celladvantageous or desirable. Thus, for example, if communication with thecurrent serving cell 64 is lost or if parameters associated with suchcommunication suggest or otherwise indicate that cell reselection may bedesirable, the mobile terminal 10 may reselect one of the candidatecells. When such a reselection is initiated, the communication nodeassociated with the current serving cell 64 (e.g., base station, accesspoint or node) may be considered to be a source node associated with acorresponding source RAT. Meanwhile, the communication node associatedwith the cell to be reselected may be considered to be a target nodeassociated with a corresponding target RAT.

As discussed above, decisions regarding cell reselection may be madebased on priority and/or ranking information. In particular, in amulti-RAT environment in which a target network does not support apriority based cell reselection algorithm, the mobile terminal 10 may berequired to run a priority based and a ranking based algorithm inparallel, thereby increasing complexity. Embodiments of the presentinvention may provide for a mechanism by which complexity reduction maybe achieved by making the running of parallel cell reselectionalgorithms unnecessary. In this regard, for example, embodiments of thepresent invention may provide for enabling the network operator to setbroadcast and/or dedicated priorities for all networks irrespective ofthe cell reselection algorithms they support.

FIG. 3 illustrates a scenario in which multiple RATs are interworkingand one or more RATs include a priority assigner according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. In this regard, as shownin FIG. 3, the system may include various networks supporting RATsincluding GERAN (e.g., GERAN 110), E-UTRAN (e.g., E-UTRAN 120) and UTRAN(e.g., UTRAN A 130 and UTRAN B 140). In this example, GERAN 110, E-UTRAN120 and UTRAN A 130 may be assumed to be upgraded to support proceduresof 3GPP Rel-8 or later (therefore using priority reselection), whereasUTRAN B 140 may be assumed to be Rel-7 or older (therefore using rankingreselection). As shown in FIG. 3, the RATs supporting priorityreselection (e.g., GERAN 110, E-UTRAN 120 and UTRAN A 130) may include apriority assigner 150, which may be embodied as a priority assignmentelement or module configured to perform priority assignment for networksincluding at least networks that support priority reselection. Thepriority assignment could include both broadcast priorities (i.e.priority provided to all mobile stations by means of broadcastsignaling) or dedicated priorities (i.e. individual priorities providedto one or more mobile stations by means of dedicated signaling). Asexpected for a network that supports priority based cell reselection,the priority assigner 150 may be configured to signal prioritiesassociated with each RAT to the mobile terminal 10 to enable the mobileterminal 10 to make cell reselections based on the provided prioritiesassociated with each RAT. Accordingly, while in the GERAN 110, themobile terminal 10 may be enabled to employ only the priority basedalgorithm without having to run another algorithm such as the rankingbased algorithm in parallel. The priority assigner 150 may enable thisfunctionality by providing for assignment of broadcast and/or dedicatedpriorities (e.g., individual priorities) for each of the other RATsirrespective of the algorithm they support for cell reselection.

Accordingly, conventional systems that only support legacy reselectionmay be upgraded to provide network operators with the flexibility andcapability of defining or otherwise setting parameters associated withthreshold values relative to levels measured in serving RATs to enableconsideration for cell reselection of candidate RATs that may employpriority based cell reselection. The network operators may therebyestablish parameters that avoid ping-pong cell reselection that mayoccur if conflicting reselection commands are encountered because of theuse of different reselection algorithms in different networks. Thisallows the possibility to use the priority based algorithm forreselection to networks that do not support priority based cellreselection. This leads to the advantage that it is not required formobile terminals to run parallel algorithms. In conventional systems, ifa mobile terminal applies individual priorities received throughdedicated signaling and priority information is available only for someinter-RAT frequencies of a RAT, cells belonging to frequencies of thatRAT for which no individual priority is available or no threshold isbroadcast in system information may not be considered for measurementand for cell re-selection. If individual priorities have been receivedthrough dedicated signalling in a network other than the servingnetwork, where such network belongs to a different RAT, at inter-RATcell (re)selection the mobile terminal may continue to use thepriorities provided by dedicated signaling until expiry of a validitytime associated with the priorities or until the priorities are deletedaccording to the specification of the (re)selected RAT. Additionally,the priority information and remaining validity time may be inherited tothe corresponding information in the (re)selected RAT.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, GERAN 110, E-UTRAN 120 and UTRANA 130 each support priority based cell reselection, but UTRAN B 140would not support priority based cell reselection. Instead, UTRAN B 140supports the ranking algorithm for cell reselection. According to priorart, the GERAN 110 may send broadcast or dedicated priorities forE-UTRAN 120 and UTRAN A 130 normally. However, according to exemplaryembodiments of the invention, the priority assigner 150 may furtherenable the network operator to define broadcast and/or dedicatedpriorities for UTRAN B 140 even though UTRAN B 140 supports the rankingalgorithm instead of the priority algorithm.

When the mobile terminal 10 is in E-UTRAN 120, the mobile terminal 10would receive dedicated priorities for the serving cell (e.g., E-UTRAN120) and neighboring cells (e.g., GERAN 110 and UTRAN A 130). However,when the mobile terminal 10 moves to the GERAN 110, with dedicatedpriorities still valid, due to prior GERAN rules, priority reselectionwould apply with respect to E-UTRAN 120 and UTRAN A 130, but UTRAN B 140would be ignored due to its lack of any dedicated priority. Thus, themobile terminal 10 would never select UTRAN B 140.

According to an exemplary embodiment, E-UTRAN 120 may send dedicatedpriorities for GERAN 110 and UTRAN A 130 normally. However, the priorityassigner 150 in E-UTRAN 120 may further enable the network operator todefine a dedicated priority to UTRAN B 140 and signal it to the mobileterminal even though UTRAN B 140 supports the ranking algorithm insteadof the priority algorithm. Thus, in relation to the example describedabove where the mobile terminal 10 moves into the GERAN 110, the mobileterminal 10 can use the priority algorithm for reselection towards UTRANB and reselection towards UTRAN B is not blocked. In this regard, thepriority assigner 150 may enable the definition of dedicated priorityparameters for networks regardless of the cell reselection algorithmassociated with the respective networks.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example apparatus for performing an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. The apparatus may be included in orembodied at a network device of the RAT employing an embodiment of thepresent invention (e.g., GERAN). The network device may be a portion of,for example, the base station subsystem (BSS) of the corresponding RAT.Accordingly, the apparatus may operate in connection with a serving cellproviding dedicated priority information to a mobile terminal 10 (or UE)operating within the corresponding cell in a multi-RAT environment.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an apparatus for enabling priority based cellreselection in a multi-RAT environment is provided. The apparatus mayinclude or otherwise be in communication with a processor 200, acommunication interface 204 and a memory device 206. The memory device206 may include, for example, volatile and/or non-volatile memory. Thememory device 206 may be configured to store information, data,applications, instructions or the like for enabling the apparatus tocarry out various functions in accordance with exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention. For example, the memory device 206 could beconfigured to buffer input data for processing by the processor 200.Additionally or alternatively, the memory device 206 could be configuredto store instructions for execution by the processor 200. As yet anotheralternative, the memory device 206 may be one of a plurality ofdatabases that store information in the form of static and/or dynamicinformation, for example, in association with a particular location,event or service point.

The processor 200 may be embodied in a number of different ways. Forexample, the processor 200 may be embodied as a processor, acoprocessor, a controller or various other processing means or devicesincluding integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (applicationspecific integrated circuit) or FPGA (field programmable gate array). Inan exemplary embodiment, the processor 200 may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory device 206 or otherwise accessible tothe processor 200. As such, whether configured by hardware or softwaremethods, or by a combination thereof, the processor 200 may represent anentity capable of performing operations according to embodiments of thepresent invention while configured accordingly. Thus, for example, whenthe processor 200 is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA or the like, theprocessor 200 may be specifically configured hardware for conducting theoperations described herein. Alternatively, as another example, when theprocessor 200 is embodied as an executor of software instructions, theinstructions may specifically configure the processor 200, which mayotherwise be a general purpose processing element if not for thespecific configuration provided by the instructions, to perform thealgorithms and operations described herein. However, in some cases, theprocessor 200 may be a processor of a specific device (e.g., a SGSN)adapted for employing embodiments of the present invention by furtherconfiguration of the processor 200 by instructions for performing thealgorithms and operations described herein.

Meanwhile, the communication interface 204 may be embodied as any deviceor means embodied in either hardware, software, or a combination ofhardware and software that is configured to receive and/or transmit datafrom/to a network and/or any other device or module in communicationwith the apparatus. In this regard, the communication interface 204 mayinclude, for example, an antenna (or antennas) and supporting hardwareand/or software for enabling communications with a wirelesscommunication network. In fixed environments, the communicationinterface 204 may alternatively or also support wired communication. Assuch, the communication interface 204 may include a communication modemand/or other hardware/software for supporting communication via cable,digital subscriber line (DSL), universal serial bus (USB), Ethernet,High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or other mechanisms.Furthermore, the communication interface 204 may include hardware and/orsoftware for supporting communication mechanisms such as Bluetooth,Infrared, UWB, WiFi, and/or the like.

In an exemplary embodiment, the processor 200 may be embodied as orotherwise control the priority assigner 150. The priority assigner 150may be any means or device embodied in hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software that is configured to carry out thefunctions of the priority assigner 150 as described herein. In thisregard, for example, the priority assigner 150 may be configured toreceive an indication of candidate cells with respect to cellreselection of a mobile terminal in the corresponding network of theapparatus. The priority assigner 150 may then assign a dedicatedpriority toward each of the candidate cells in which at least one of thecandidate cells includes a candidate cell that does not support prioritybased cell reselection. Subsequent to assigning a dedicated priority toeach of the candidate cells, the dedicated priorities may be provided tothe mobile terminal for each respective candidate cell including thecandidate cell that does not support priority based cell reselection.

In an exemplary embodiment, the mobile terminal 10 may include, amongother things, a processor 200′, a communication interface 204′ and amemory device 206′ as shown in FIG. 5. Each of the processor 200′, thecommunication interface 204′ and the memory device 206′ may be similarin function to the descriptions provided above in reference to FIG. 4.The mobile terminal 10 may further include a user interface 202, whichmay include a keyboard, touch screen, display, mouse, joystick, cursor,microphone, speaker or any of numerous other devices for providinginterface mechanisms for the user. The mobile terminal 10 may alsoinclude a cell reselector 210. The cell reselector 210 may be any meansor device embodied in hardware, software, or a combination of hardwareand software that is configured to carry out the functions of the cellreselector 210 as described herein. In this regard, the cell reselector210 may be configured to receive dedicated priority information from atleast one RAT that does not support a priority reselection algorithm andthereafter perform cell reselection based at least in part on thededicated priority information from the at least on RAT that does notsupport the priority reselection algorithm.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flowcharts of a system, method and program productaccording to exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will beunderstood that each block or step of the flowcharts, and combinationsof blocks in the flowcharts, can be implemented by various means, suchas hardware, firmware, and/or software including one or more computerprogram instructions. For example, one or more of the proceduresdescribed above may be embodied by computer program instructions. Inthis regard, the computer program instructions which embody theprocedures described above may be stored by a memory device of a networkdevice (e.g., a BSS) or mobile terminal and executed by a processor inthe network device or mobile terminal. As will be appreciated, any suchcomputer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or otherprogrammable apparatus (i.e., hardware) to produce a machine, such thatthe instructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowcharts block(s) or step(s). These computer program instructions mayalso be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computeror other programmable apparatus to function in a particular manner, suchthat the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce anarticle of manufacture including instruction means which implement thefunction specified in the flowcharts block(s) or step(s). The computerprogram instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to beperformed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce acomputer-implemented process such that the instructions which execute onthe computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps forimplementing the functions specified in the flowcharts block(s) orstep(s).

Accordingly, blocks or steps of the flowcharts support combinations ofmeans for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps forperforming the specified functions and program instruction means forperforming the specified functions. It will also be understood that oneor more blocks or steps of the flowcharts, and combinations of blocks orsteps in the flowcharts, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions orsteps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

In this regard, one embodiment of a method for enabling priority basedcell reselection in a multi-RAT environment as provided in FIG. 6 mayinclude receiving an indication of candidate cells with respect to cellreselection of a mobile terminal in the corresponding network of anapparatus performing the method at operation 300. Notably, operation 300could occur at another point during the performance of the method andtherefore need not necessarily be an initial operation. The method mayfurther include assigning a dedicated priority toward a plurality of thecandidate cells in which at least one of the candidate cells includes acandidate cell that does not support priority based cell reselection atoperation 310. Subsequent to assigning a dedicated priority to each ofthe candidate cells, the method may further include providing thededicated priorities to the mobile terminal for respective candidatecells including the candidate cell that does not support priority basedcell reselection at operation 320.

FIG. 7 provides a method for enabling priority based cell reselection ina multi-RAT environment from the perspective of a mobile terminal. Inthis regard, the method may include receiving dedicated priorityinformation from at least one RAT that does not support a priorityreselection algorithm at operation 350 and thereafter performing cellreselection based at least in part on the dedicated priority informationfrom the at least on RAT that does not support the priority reselectionalgorithm at operation 360 by running a priority reselection algorithm.

In an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus for performing the methodsabove may include a processor (for example, the processor 200 or 200′)configured to perform each of the operations (300-320 or 350 to 360)described above. The processor may, for example, be configured toperform the operations by executing stored instructions or an algorithmfor performing each of the operations. Alternatively, the apparatus mayinclude means for performing each of the operations described above. Inthis regard, according to an exemplary embodiment, examples of means forperforming operations 300 to 320 may include, for example, code,instructions, a module or an algorithm for managing operation of thepriority assigner 150 or the processor 200.

Meanwhile, exemplary means for performing operations 350 to 360 mayinclude, for example, a computer program product, module or algorithmfor managing operations of the cell reselector 210 or the processor200′.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseinventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associateddrawings describe exemplary embodiments in the context of certainexemplary combinations of elements and/or functions, it should beappreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions maybe provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scopeof the appended claims. In this regard, for example, differentcombinations of elements and/or functions than those explicitlydescribed above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of theappended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they areused in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

1. Method for enabling priority based cell reselection in a multi radioaccess technology environment, comprising the steps of receiving anindication of a plurality candidate cells with respect to said cellreselection of a mobile terminal; assigning, toward each of saidplurality of candidate cells, a priority, wherein at least one candidatecell of the plurality of candidate cells does not support priority basedcell reselection; providing said priorities to said mobile terminal. 2.Method according to claim 1, wherein said priorities are broadcastand/or dedicated priorities.
 3. A computer program product comprising acode, the code being configured to implement a method according toclaim
 1. 4. A memory device comprising a computer program productaccording to claim
 3. 5. Apparatus for enabling priority based cellreselection in a multi radio access technology environment, saidapparatus configured to receive an indication of a plurality candidatecells with respect to said cell reselection of a mobile terminal;assign, toward each of said plurality of candidate cells, a priority,wherein at least one candidate cell of the plurality of candidate cellsdoes not support priority based cell reselection; provide, to saidmobile terminal, said priorities.
 6. A network device comprising anapparatus according to claim
 5. 7. (canceled)
 8. (canceled) 9.(canceled)
 10. (canceled)
 11. (canceled)